Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Tex and his wife Donna were some of the first friends we made in Minnesota. He was born in Mexico and his wife is from Minnesota. So they are also Spanish speakers and they have four children who correspond exactly to our children's ages and genders (and even personalities!) except their youngest girl is one year younger than Bernie.

Here is Tex on MPR talking about politics. I haven't listened to the audio yet, but the brief article talks about how Mormons will not necessarily vote for Romney just because he is Mormon. However, according to a study, 55 percent of Mormons are Republican and only 14 percent Democrat. I am not sure why this is. Jan Shipps is quoted as saying that identity politics do not pull Mormons, meaning, I suppose, that Mormons are not pulled in to the Republican party based solely on a couple issues like abortion or gay marriage.

So why are so many Mormons Republican? Any ideas? BYU is dramatically Republican. Of 100 girls on our floor in my freshman dorm, only 2 of us voted for Clinton in '92.

At book group last week no one said they were planning to vote for Romney. Some did not say anything, some said they were still undecided, and there were a few ardent Obama supporters.

13 comments:

ave
said...

I think that LDS say they won't vote for Romney because they don't want others to think they are voting for him based on religon, but I think that most of them will vote for him. In my ward there are mostly Ron Paul bumper stickers but that is because this is Maine. Unfortunately, I think a lot of people do base their party choice on gay marriage and abortion, as if judging their brothers and sisters for their personal choices were the most important things in politics.

Maybe Mormons tend to be more Republican because they tend to be more socially conservative on issues surrounding marriage, abortion, etc. Maybe because being Mormon often means choosing a lifestyle that is more separated from the mainstream culture and so there is a tendency to favor candidates who favor less government intervention in people's lives?

I'm really enjoying the Romney discussions, Calandria! I feel like I can actually say something based on people who know when he comes up in conversation!

HEY- I was a freshman at BYU in '92!!! I lived off campus and had this rebelious roomate. I was not a member of the church at the time, so to tick off our other 4 roomates (mature, I know) we hung up pictures of Clinton and Gore everywhere. Drove them NUTS.

I think Mormons=conservative=republicansAnd I think abortion has a lot to do with it.

When I went to Utah I was surprised at how little people really make an effort to think independently for themselves. Don't get me wrong, they are well educated and think they think for themselves but they do have a tendency to go-with-the-flow and criticize greatly those who are different (for whatever reason- personal experience on that one). So if the flow is Republican than they follow. I am glad that I came from a place where being different is an okay thing - even with conservatives- and people take pride in thinking for themselves. Voting for anyone because of their religion, race or sex is preposterous and a gross misuse of the voting system. The only candidate that I have noticed who is really pushing the idea of ‘vote for me because I am religious’ is Huckubee. Just because of that adamantly I refuse to vote for him. I’ve got a cold day in H… thing going on there.

Gabriela, I thought we were probably the same age when I saw that you had graduated from high school 16 years ago. You were very brave to go to BYU not being a member of the Church. But yes, braver still to put up the Clinton Gore posters. :-) I said there were only 2 out of 100 who voted for Clinton but now I remember there were actually 4 of us.

So Ave, will you be purchasing the "Vote for Romney" thong? :-)

It does seem likely that some Mormons are Republican because of the social conservatism. But what about the socially conservative Mormons who are Democrats? And what about the socially liberal Republicans? I'm not seeing that social conservatism is a reason to join or not join either party now.

I'd like to know the percentages of Mormons who are Republican v. Democrat outside Utah.

I still think it's strange that Mormons are so Republican, especially considering that there have been prominent leaders in the Church who have also been prominently Democrat.

I'm from the UK so don't know a huge lot about American politics, but I can't believe that most Mormons just vote for one party. That does definately not happen here, and yes abortion is something I feel strongly about, but it is only one issue. I think it's great that Mitt Romney is running, I don't think I'd vote for him myself, but I hope that he does well.

I agree with Hedgee in that it is definitely an American thing. Here in the Netherlands there is no one single party that is preferred by LDS members. Also I agree with Ave (Hi, sweetie) that much of the Church doctrine is socially based so the conservative thing is very strange.I figure when the Lord comes again he isn't going to ask what party your in so why gung-ho about being in a particular party?

Why is Romney associated with religion? No one cares what the other candidates religion is. Romney being Mormon shouldn't even be brought up or a factor wheather you vote for him or not. You should vote for him because he has the best expierence, best values, and will do the best job for our nation.

Anonymous, somehow I doubt you will come back here to see my reply to your comment, so I'm probably just wasting my time. However, I must say that I fail to see how your comment is related to the original post or any of the other comments. Your comment is entirely random.